Keynote Speakers

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  Dmitry (Dima) A. Zaitsev

  Dr.Sci., Professor, Senior Member of ACM and IEEE, University of Derby, UK.

  Research field: Petri Net; Automated Control; Networking; Models of Computation.

  As a researcher, he developed timed Petri nets with multi-channel transitions and their equivalent transformations, synthesis of fuzzy-logic functions given in tabular form, functional Petri nets generalized as clans of linear systems, infinite Petri nets, minimal universal Petri nets, and the Sleptsov net computing model.

  As a professor, he has been teaching up to sixteen subjects in computer science since 2006. His greatest achievement as a programmer is Opera-Topaz, a 100,000-line C project implemented in real industrial systems as a realization of his PhD work. One of his most challenging accomplishments as a programmer was the implementation of a novel stack of networking protocols, e6, within the Linux kernel.

  His inclination toward leadership and innovation appeared early: in his kindergarten Little Squirrel, he was the first to finish eating and was rewarded with a flag placed on his table. During his time at Secondary School No. 58 in Donetsk, Ukraine, he served as President of the School Scientific Society and attended a programming section at Donetsk Polytechnic Institute (DPI), programming in Algol on the M-222 computer. This experience led to a programming contest award for software that selected a space shuttle crew based on skills and psychological compatibility—what today might be humorously described as an early form of "dating software."

  After graduating with distinction in Applied Mathematics from DPI, he and a classmate presented, as their diploma projects, a Cross-Meta-Assembler divided into two stages—definition and assembly—which became part of the Micro software package delivered to KNIIRIA, Kyiv, for the first Ukrainian personal computer Neuron.The rest of his biography includes a visiting professorship at Paris-Dauphine University in 2005, leadership of Ukraine’s first NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) project in 2008, a DAAD scholarship in 2015, and a Fulbright scholarship with Jack Dongarra’s team in 2017.

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  Hamid Reza Karimi

  Associate Professor, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

  Research field: Control theory; Applied Mechanics; Mechatronics; Fault Diagnosis; Autonomous Systems.

  Hamid Reza Karimi is Professor of Applied Mechanics with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy and the Honorary Visiting Professor within the School of Computing & Engineering at the University of Huddersfield, UK. Prof. Karimi's original research and development achievements span a broad spectrum within the topic of automation/control systems, and intelligence systems with applications to complex systems such as vehicles, robotics and mechatronics.

  Prof. Karimi is an ordinary Member of Academia Europaea (MAE), Member of The European Academy of Sciences (MEAS), Member of Agder Academy of Science and Letters in Norway, Distinguished Fellow of the International Institute of Acoustics and Vibration (IIAV), Fellow of The International Society for Condition Monitoring (ISCM), Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), member of the board of Directors of The International Institute of Acoustics and Vibration (IIAV) and member of Management Committee of The International Society for Condition Monitoring (ISCM).

  Prof. Karimi is the recipient of the 2021 BINDT CM Innovation Award, the Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering, the 2020 IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems Guillemin-Cauer Best Paper Award, August-Wilhelm-Scheer Visiting Professorship Award, JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Research Award, and Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung research Award, for instance. Prof. Karimi has been Editor-in-Chief, Subject Editor, Technical Editor or Associate Editor for several international journals and Book Series Editor for Springer, CRC Press and Elsevier. He has also participated as General Chair, keynote/plenary speaker, distinguished speaker or program chair for several international conferences in the areas of Control Systems, Robotics and Mechatronics. Prof. Karimi is also the conference chair for the 2026 World Congress on Condition Monitoring (WCCM2026) in Milan, Italy.

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  Katarzyna Turoń

  Associate professor, Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering, Department of Road Transport, Silesian University of Technology, Poland.

  Research field: Transportation Engineering; Energy & Fuels; Urban Studies Computer Science.

  Katarzyna Turoń, She specializes in mobility management, open innovation, and the digital transformation of transport. She is among the top 2% of the most influential scientists in the world, according to the Stanford University ranking. She is the author and co-author of over 150 scientific publications.For her achievements, she has been honored with numerous awards, including the Prize of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Scholarship of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, the Silesian Special Science Award, the Oxford Scholarship, and the Visegrad Scholarship.She has completed numerous international research fellowships at leading academic institutions around the world, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China and Paris-Panthéon-Assas University in France.She is currently the principal investigator of the project titled *"Supporting Academic Staff in Intensifying Research Activities on Transport Transformation Toward a Green and Digital Economy"*, with a total value of PLN 1,302,600.00.

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  Souhail DHOUIB

  Professor, Higher Institute of Industrial Management of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.

  Research field: Logistics; Supply Chain Modeling; ERP Systems; Intelligent Decision-support Systems.

  Prof. Souhail Dhouib is a globally recognized expert in Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research, proudly ranked among the World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier. Notably, he holds the 69th position worldwide in the discipline of Metaheuristics according to ScholarGPS. As the inventor of the revolutionary "Dhouib-Matrix" AI optimization techniques, Prof. Dhouib has significantly advanced intelligent decision-making tools across multiple disciplines. He is also an acclaimed keynote speaker, international coordinator, editorial board member, and software industry pioneer. With an active academic and entrepreneurial spirit, he bridges the gap between theory and application in AI-driven optimization. His core innovation, the "Dhouib-Matrix," has led to the development of cutting-edge heuristics and metaheuristics for complex problems like transportation, scheduling, and robotics path planning. He is deeply involved in logistics, supply chain modeling, ERP systems, and intelligent decision-support systems, pushing boundaries in automated and cognitive computing applications.

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  George Z.H. Zhu

  Professor and Tier 1 York Research Chair in Space Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Canada.
  Director, Smart Autonomous Robotic Technology for Space Exploration, Canada.
  Founding Co-Director, Manufacturing Technology Entrepreneurship Centre, Canada.
  Founding Director, Space Engineering Lab, Canada.

  Research field: Dynamics and Control of Tethered Spacecraft System and Space Robotics; Electrodynamic Tether Propulsion and Space Debris Removal; Computational Mechanics and Finite Element Method; Multi-functional Materials; Additive Manufacturing in Space.

  Dr. Zhu is a Professor and Tier 1 York Research Chair in Space Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at York University in Toronto, Canada. He is also the founding Director of the Manufacturing Technology Entrepreneurship Centre and the Space Engineering Lad at the same institution. From 2019 to 2022, he served as the inaugural Academic Director of the Research Commons in the Vice-President of Research and Innovation Office and was the Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2018 to 2019. His research includes dynamics and control of tethered spacecraft, autonomous space robotics, visual servo, computational control, CubeSat, and additive manufacturing in space. He has published 227 peer-reviewed journal papers, 183 conference proceedings, 5 book chapters and edited one book. In addition, he was the Principal Investigator of two CubeSat missions. Currently, he is the Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics; College Member of the Royal Society of Canada; Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Canada; Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineering, and Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and Associate fellow of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Dr. Zhu is the recipient of the 2024 Solid Mechanics Medal and the 2021 Robert W. Angus Medal from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering; the 2024 Gold Medal and the 2019 Engineering R&D Medal of Professional Engineers from the Professional Engineers Ontario Canada; and the 2021 York University President's Research Excellence Award. Finally, Dr. Zhu is the Editor-in-Chief of Acta Astronautica.

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  Sara Moridpour

  Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Australia.

  Research field: Transport Modelling; Sustainable Transport and Accessibility; Transport Infrastructure Maintenance; Traffic Safety; Driving Behaviour Simulation.

  Prof. Sara Moridpour is a professor and an expert in traffic engineering and transportation modelling at the School of Engineering, RMIT University. She holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a Master's in Transportation Planning and Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran. She also obtained her Ph.D. degree in traffic and transport engineering from Monash University. She received numerous accolades for her leadership and contributions to STEM. Awards include the Veski Inspiring Women in STEM Sidebyside Leadership Award (2023), the RMIT University School of Engineering Leadership Award (2021), and the prestigious Institute of Transportation Engineers Rising Star Award (2016). Additionally, she is an editorial board member of four traffic/transportation engineering journals, an executive board member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers Australia and New Zealand Section, and a fellow member of Engineers Australia. She has served as a technical and organizing committee member for different traffic/transportation conferences. She works in the areas of driving behaviour modelling and analysis, road freight management, transport infrastructure maintenance planning and management, transport network modelling and simulation, and road safety.